Lay witness to my so-called fundamental existence.

The group decided to skip this ancient artwork arguably done by the earlier inhabitants of Binangonan.

It’s the petroglyph which Carlos Francisco, a national artist, discovered in the 1960s. To reach the petroglyphs, one has to take a long walk to the hills and must pass through a network of caverns. The path is not well lit and since it’s almost sundown, it would be too risky, both for the students and teachers, to visit the petroglyphs, so everyone agreed to go back to Metro Manila and bypass it.

It’s because we spent much time in Angono. This town was dubbed as the “Arts Center of the Philippines” probably because of several well-known artists who lived here, including two national artists, one was Carlos “Botong” Francisco for the arts and the other was for music, Lucio San Pedro.

The town itself is studded with art museums. We visited one of which, the Blanco Family Museum.

A family of painters is not so common in the Philippines. But for the Blancos of Angono, theirs is a mix of innate and developed talents for visual arts. The patriarch had a formal schooling (from University of Santo Tomas) while the rest had none. They were just trained and taught by the patriarch, Jose “Pitok” Blanco. Each of the kids had undergone a serious ‘baptism of fire’ or according to the tour guide, a thesis for compliance, wherein they have to produce a huge painting of a chosen subject and theme. Most of the subjects are about rural life, ethnic or folk, with huge emphasis on the play of lights, the clarity of facial expressions and attention to details.

The artworks in the Blanco Family Museum were clearly arranged according to the individual family member, starting with the youngest up to the head of the family, and culminating at a gallery where the vintage red car is also displayed. The sequence for every artist was such: from his/her first artwork then to his/her ‘thesis’ masterpiece, which are oftentimes huge and overwhelming, then finally to his/her latest works.

The individual gallery would start from the small paintings and then to the larger ones and finally to the obra maestra which were in huge frames occupying much of the gallery walls. Jose Blanco’s celebrated artpiece is this one:

This is his depiction of the Angono Fishermen’s Festival. It’s a huge painting filled with countless human figures of varied shapes, ages and sizes. The faces are distinct and different from each other, details of the faces are also very clear. Truly impressive on the technical execution. It’s a fine example of horror vaccui.

Here are some other amazing paintings in the museum:

Technically, a great painting. I’d say that this one has a great composition. Once again, the drama is in the use of light and shade. This is also a very huge painting. One would be drawn to the subject that is the boy but one could also be amazed by his reflection on the water. What’s fascinating also is how the dog and the orchids were painted heavily in details.

Captured emotions. Bro Bear explained to his class how the play of light could generate the drama of the painting.  The composition leans to the subject on the right portion, the focus being the woman with her hands raised in surrender to the suffering yet hope still clinging to her soiled clothes, arms longing for deliverance from the conflagration.

Happy colors on a sullen theme (pic from rizalbiz.com). And even though the theme is about the eruption of Mt. Mayon, bright colors were utilized and blended with the play of light to balance the gray and the darkness of the theme.

An intermittent subject and the basis for the family logo. I was not able to take a clear picture of this painting. But it’s a proof of how the family is attached to realism and to the themes  related to rural life. The basket of fish reflected the way of life in Angono, a town which is also located near Laguna de Bay.

This family of painters were able to freeze through oil paints and canvases several Filipino festivals and rituals. Many painting were about the Moriones Festival, the Pahiyas, the ritual of harvest by the Igorots, etc.

There were also serious themes of mother and child, of mother giving birth – assisted by a hilot (midwife), of a fishing scene, of a natural calamity and potraits of non-current Filipinos. I did not see any painting about the present day scene. They mastered the art of realism, but their subjects were heavily anchored on the era where women were dressed in baro’t saya and the men were clad in g-strings, linen pants rolled up to the knees and camizas de chinos. The paintings were like still images or photographs because when viewed from a distance, they seemed to look so real.

The museum greatly reflects how prolific the family is. The tour was quite extensive and long. Visitors learned to appreciate an unspoken yet obvious advocacy by the late Pitok Blanco. It is the preservation of culture and recording through visual arts, the Filipino tradition and practices. Those who chose to walk through the galleries were not only reminded of how lives of the Filipinos were centuries ago but also, they were led to appreciate how this family dedicated their talents to contribute to the preservation of the Filipino identity.

Angono’s soul is in the arts. It’s scions had fan the flames of art appreciation. From the Blanco Family Museum, we proceeded to Doña Aurora Street found several blocks from the town park. The street is known for its murals, sculpted artworks on the perimeter walls of the houses that lined the street.

This pic was taken while I was trying to sing Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan. I remember this popular lullaby because we sang this in most of UPSA’s practice session.

The musical notes and the lyrics of the song were placed on the blue wall behind me. I instantly recalled the tenor part of the song. Lucio San Pedro was proclaimed a national artist for music in 1991.

Doña Aurora Street is lined with various concrete murals.

If the Blancos preserved the culture and tradition through oil paintings, Botong Francisco preserved culture and history in the form of murals. The entire strip was adorned with his depiction of several historical and cultural events. His works can also be seen at the National Museum branch in Butuan, Agusan del Norte.

There were also some other murals in the strip.

Arts and culture vis-a-vis with the people of Angono, or at least in Doña Aurora Street in Barangay Itaas.  A lot of people take this street on their way to hear mass every Sunday. We saw people hurriedly walking through. We noticed by-standers gawking at our every move. We were staring at the murals and we took time to check if we knew the subject of every concrete art. We were quite envious.

The people of Angono are lucky to have these art forms. We’re just not sure if they fully appreciated what these art forms have preserved.